


An Everlarking Christmas

by hutchabelle



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 08:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3047738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hutchabelle/pseuds/hutchabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Mellarks want to enjoy the first holiday season in their new home together, but almost everything seems to go wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Everlarking Christmas

“Katniss,” Peeta called from the hallway closet. “Where are the lights I put in here for the house?” He pulled his head from the recesses of the closet and shouted down the hall. “I put them behind the coats, but I can’t find them.”

Flipping her braid over her shoulder, she barely looked up from the Christmas card list she’d been working on for the past few days and muttered absently, “I’m not sure, Peeta. I haven’t moved anything from the closet.”

A sudden crash and Peeta’s yelp of pain finally broke her concentration and she rushed down the hallway to find her husband situated firmly on his backside with a Christmas ball ornament dangling crookedly from the frame of this glasses. His expression was comical—a mixture of confusion and acceptance. Suppressing a laugh, she leaned down to offer him her hand and help him to a standing position.

With a wry grin, he removed the ornament and straightened the glasses he’d just recently started wearing. When he turned 28, he noticed he couldn’t see as well when he painted and he had trouble reading the computer screen when he tried to type. He’d been extremely unhappy about having to correct his vision, but Katniss believed the glasses made him even more handsome than he already was. She’d never admit it to him, but she loved that she could tease him about getting older when he gazed at his glasses in disgust and limped a little on the leg he’d hurt playing intramurals in college. She also looked forward to the day when he started to show the slightest hint of gray at his temples because she knew he would be a very attractive silver fox.

“You okay, Peeta?” she asked with a hint of mirth in her voice and smiled outright when he leaned in to give her a quick kiss.

“Hmmm…” he mumbled as his lips moved from her mouth to the hollow below her left ear and he pulled her body closer to his. “I’m much better now,” he admitted when her arms circled him in response.

Katniss enjoyed the sensation for a few minutes before pushing him away gently. “Come on, hon. We need to get this done. This is our first Christmas in a real house, and we both promised to make this one special—all the decorations and traditions and all that.”

Peeta frowned in response but agreed, releasing her from his embrace and stepping back into the closet. “Can you help me clean this up?” he asked in muffled voice from behind the hanging coats and practically upside down as he attempted to pick up the boxes that had spilled their contents across the closet floor and into the hall.

“I could, but I need to finish the Christmas cards before the mail goes out today. You want to help me with that?”

Peeta poked his head out of the closet and laughed. “You know how horrible my handwriting is. Unless you want me to draw a map instead of addressing them, you better spare the mailman.”

Katniss stuck her tongue out at Peeta and returned to her Christmas cards only to let out a blood curdling screech that caused Peeta to jump and smack his head against the doorjamb as he pulled out of the closet. When he did, he stumbled back to crush three glass ball ornaments under his boots as he rushed to the study.

“What happened?” he demanded as he rounded the corner and gazed in disbelief at the scene before him. He rubbed the bump on his head as his jaw dropped in surprise.

Katniss stood in the middle of the living room with her hands at her sides, her mouth hanging open in shock as Buttercup, the cat they were watching while her sister Prim traveled, curled up on the laptop’s keyboard blissfully unaware that he’d knocked over the cup of cider Katniss had been drinking as she addressed the cards. The pile of envelopes was soaked, the ink of the addresses smudged beyond recognition. Tears of frustration pooled in Katniss’ eyes as Peeta pulled her to his side with a one armed hug.

Kissing her on the temple, Peeta tried to comfort her. “It’s okay, Katniss. We’ll redo them. Together, if you want.”

She shook her head against his and croaked, “No. It’s fine, Peeta. Let’s try to finish the Christmas cookies so we can get the baskets ready to give to people tomorrow. It’s bad enough that we can’t afford to buy presents for people. Thank goodness your cookies are pastry chef quality.”

“We’ll get it done, sweetheart,” Peeta reassured her as he swiped the sodden mess of cards into the trash can and wiped up the stickiness with a wet cloth he grabbed from the hallway bathroom. “Not everything has to be perfect. We’re still getting used to this ‘Christmas in our own home’ thing, you know.”

“Other people seem to be able to do it,” Katniss sighed in despair and Peeta noticed the sag in her shoulders.

He swatted her on the butt with the cloth in his hand and chuckled at her outraged expression. “Don’t start with that, Kat. You are a wonderful wife. Just because you can’t cook and have the domestic qualities of a door mouse does not make you a bad spouse—despite some snarky comments from my mom about my choice to marry you.”

Katniss stood in front of the sink and gazed out the window into the woods behind their house. The light covering of snow made the evergreen trees particularly beautiful, and she could almost pretend she and Peeta lived in a world with just the two of them.

He pressed up behind her, wrapping his arms firmly around her from behind, and warming her with his embrace. “I love celebrating our first Christmas in this house. I love celebrating it with you every year. I love you.”

Unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face, she admitted, “I love you too, Peeta.”

“Good,” he replied with renewed energy. “Then let’s make some cookies. I might even let you lick the spoon. If you play your cards right, I might let you lick something else.”

She shook her head at his mischievousness and followed him into the kitchen, all the while appreciating the view of his rounded backside.

An hour later, they’d managed to bake a few dozen cookies and had moved on to loaves of cranberry and pecan bread for a gift exchange at an upcoming Christmas party. Placing three loaves in the oven and setting the timer for forty minutes, Peeta glanced through the window at the darkening sky.

“Katniss, I really need to go cut down a tree if we’re going to get one today. It’s getting dark.”

She nodded silently and paused washing the bowl she was holding before looking at him. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I’d rather you stay here and take the bread out of the oven when the alarm goes off. Are you sure you want me to cut one instead of buying one at the store?”

Jerking her head toward the mess they’d made, she reminded him, “We’re giving baked goods as Christmas presents, Peeta, and we have a whole acre behind our house of Christmas trees. Do you really think we can afford to buy one when there are free ones right there?”

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed and headed to the backdoor to put on his coat and boots.

“Take your phone with you. Just in case,” Katniss shouted over her shoulder as she finished washing the dishes and headed to work on the Christmas cards again. Halfway down the hall, she noticed the crushed ornaments and decided to clean them up and reorganize the closet since Peeta would be back soon with the tree.

She tread carefully, picking through the shards of glass to rescue the ones that remained intact. Shaking her head at her husband’s clumsiness, she lamented the loss of the glass balls. Money was tight this year. The down payment on the house had zapped most of their savings and a couple of unexpected repairs exhausted the excess cash they’d earmarked for the holidays. Katniss had known married life wouldn’t be all sunshine and unicorns, but their situation was still a devastating blow for her ego on their first Christmas as the Mellarks.

Peeta’s mother hadn’t exactly welcomed her with open arms either. While she didn’t doubt his love for her, she longed for the approval of his family if only because Peeta deserved to be able to live in ease with her as his wife and with his relatives. She’d tried, but she simply didn’t fit the domestic views his mother had about women, and Katniss knew she never would. Besides, Peeta was the baker and definitely the more overtly nurturing of the two. She’d always been more reticent, more closed off to other people and protective of her emotional privacy. While Peeta attracted a bevy of friendships and close acquaintances, she saved her affections for those who were most important to her—Peeta and her sister.

She swept the broken glass into the dust pan and discarded the trash just as the oven timer beeped in the kitchen. Glancing at her watch, she wondered how forty minutes had already passed without her addressing one single Christmas card. And where was Peeta? Surely he’d had time to find a tree for the small space she’d cleared in the living room. The forest was full of trees after all.

She rushed down the hall and into the kitchen and punched random buttons on the stove to quiet the alarm. Grabbing the hot pads from the counter, she pulled the loaves of bread from the oven and placed them carefully on the island so they could cool. After closing the door again, she reached to straighten one of the pans and burned her finger.

“Ouch! Stupid pan is hot!” she screeched and sucked her injured finger into her mouth. She stumbled to the sink and turned the cold water on full blast to treat the burn. As the pain eased, she noticed the trays of prepared cookie dough Peeta had left on the counter to cook after the bread was done. Maybe she should put them in so they’d be done by the time he returned too. Knowing him, he’d be stunned she could accomplish it all while he picked the tree. Nothing made her quite as happy as making Peeta proud of her.

She shook her hand to relieve the sting of the burn and opened the oven again. As she placed the first tray inside, she heard her phone ping with an incoming text. Peeta had chosen the tree and was heading back. In a flash of excitement, she realized she probably had just enough time to wrap his Christmas presents before he returned.

She rushed to their bedroom and riffled through her underwear drawer for the flat wooden box she’d hidden there several days before. His main present was a set of brushes he’d admired for far too long without having a set of his own. She’d saved for months to get them, forgoing a number of cups of morning coffee to afford the painting supplies.

Further in the recesses, she found the smaller box that contained his second gift and opened it reverently. She traced his initials in the metal with her fingertip and smiled at the locket. She’d been surprised at first that he wanted it, but Peeta had admired the slim gold square when they’d chosen her engagement ring together. While he hadn’t asked for it, Katniss knew he rarely asked for things he wanted. Usually he was content with what she offered him.

She placed the presents carefully on the desk with the Christmas cards and stared forlornly at the ruined ones in the trash can.

“Stupid cat,” she muttered and hurried down the hall to the closet to find a roll of wrapping paper masculine enough for Peeta. Pink with white Christmas trees just wouldn’t do for him. She settled on one with thick diagonal stripes of white, green, and red and hurried to wrap the packages before Peeta returned and saw them. She finished the brushes quickly but spent a little more time on the locket so that the lines matched perfectly on the small box.

She’d just put the last piece of tape on the paper when she smelled the first whiff of something burning. Puzzled, she swiveled her head to look for the source of the offending odor but she saw nothing. It wasn’t until the smoke alarm sounded from the kitchen that she realized what she’d done.

“Dammit!” she yelled and streaked to the kitchen in time to see smoke billowing from the oven. She reached for the handle to open it and remove the cookie sheet with the misconception that would fix the problem. She jumped back in panic when the newly introduced oxygen fanned the smoldering cookies into flames and stood with her hands over her mouth, her legs completely frozen in shock.

Peeta burst through the backdoor with eyes widened in terror. When he realized she was okay, he grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink and shot the spray at the opened oven. Two minutes later the fire was out, and he turned to look at his wife.

She hadn’t moved since he’d torn into the house. She’d been too horrified by what she’d done to be able to act. When his blue eyes locked with her frightened gray ones, she started to tremble and within seconds she burst into tears accompanied by wracking sobs. Peeta pulled her into his strong embrace and held her tightly in an attempt to soothe her.

“Shhh. Shhh, Katniss. It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re alright. Everything’s alright,” he crooned as he twisted her braid around his right hand. His hands shook from the fear he’d felt of losing her. Katniss could tell that he was shaken deeply, practically into his core, but she could tell he knew she needed his strength now more than he needed to break down. “It’s just cookies. It’s just cookies… You’re safe. The house is safe. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

She wailed, “I burned my finger!” and buried her head in his shoulder.

He clearly tried to stop himself, but he couldn’t control the laughter that gurgled in his chest. He choked, swallowed, and sputtered before he gained his silence. She could feel his shoulders shake in an effort to quell his mirth, but finally he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He guffawed. He wouldn’t let her go, but he howled with laughter until Katniss couldn’t help but see the humor in the situation.

“You…” he huffed. “Your finger! You burned your finger.” She leaned back and swatted him on the arm, but he could only shake his head and hold his sides because they hurt so much from chortling. “I’m so sorry, Katniss. So sorry, but you burned your finger!” He broke into laughter again until he was bent over with his hands on his knees and gasping for air.

Tears continued to roll down Katniss’ cheeks as she stared at him in disbelief. “Why are you laughing at me?” Even in her state of irritation, her mouth twitched upwards on one side. His laughter was infectious. It always had been to her since she’d met him back in college.

“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. I’m not laughing at you,” he sputtered through a chuckle before wiping his face clear. “I’m really not. I’m just so relieved you’re okay. When I heard the fire alarm from outside, I imagined you were trapped inside or you’d fallen and hit your head and couldn’t get up. Something awful, but you’re fine! You’re alright, and the house is alright, and I love you, and—oh, god. I’m so relieved.”

She waved to the mess and blurted, “But Peeta, look at our kitchen! And the cookies! And—”

“And nothing! They’re cookies! You are so much more important than cookies, Katniss. You’re my everything.”

They stood together in the kitchen and wrapped in each other’s arms for several minutes. Peeta’s lips pressed against her neck, and his warmth seeped into her. Slowly, the tension drained from their bodies, and Katniss felt her calm returning. Peeta was right. They’d only lost cookies, and that was nothing compared to the possibility of what they could have lost if the fire had spread. Finally, Peeta lifted her quivering chin and kissed her sweetly. She melted into him and clung to the promise of security and steadfast support he offered her in spite of everything.

“I was wrapping your presents,” she muttered as she surveyed the mess. “At least what I was doing was important.”

He slung his arm around her neck and kissed the side of her head. “Good to know your priorities are straight,” he teased. “Let’s clean this up, get the last of the cookies in the oven and set up the tree before it gets too late. The last thing I want to be doing is trying to shape the thing while it’s dark. I’d like to keep all my limbs. Fingers too, so no chopping after dark.”

Peeta wrapped the loaves of bread and cooled cookies in colored saran wrap while Katniss wiped down the stove. He placed the baked goods carefully in the gift boxes they’d purchased specifically for that purpose and carried them into the living room to escape the kitchen fumes. By the time he was done, the oven was clean again. Katniss stood to the side while he reset the temperature and the timer.

“Ten minutes, and our presents will be completely finished. Let’s get the tree inside the house while they’re cooking and go from there.”

She nodded and followed him outside to help carry in the tree. She could tell as soon as she saw it lying on the ground that it was much too big for the space she’d cleared for it, but she didn’t have the heart to tell him. However, it didn’t take long for Peeta to realize it as well.

“Umm, I think I might have misjudged how big this thing is,” he admitted with chagrin. “We may have to move some more furniture around to get this to fit.”

With a pat on his shoulder she headed to the kitchen. “You get right on that, stud. I’m going to get the cookies out of the oven so we can shut that thing off. I don’t want to tempt fate.”

By the time she returned, he’d wrestled the tree into the corner and had the armchair stuffed into the space next to the sofa. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement, but it worked. She helped him wrap strings of lights through the branches, and it was only when they were finishing the last set that she finally realized something wasn’t quite right.

“What’s that noise?”

“What noise?” he asked distractedly as he struggled to connect the plug to the surge protector.

“That chirping noise. Oh crap!” she yelped as she ducked the small bird that emerged from the branches and swooped drunkenly through the room in a frantic attempt to escape.

Buttercup, who hadn’t moved from the computer keyboard he’d been warming since he ruined the Christmas cards, sprang from the desk and raced from one side of the room to the other in pursuit of the bird.

“Peeta!” Katniss yelped as she dropped to the floor to escape another dive bomb by the frenzied fowl.

“Stay calm,” he shouted as he twirled in helpless circles while waving his hands wildly.

Buttercup jumped and spun until he grew frustrated and leapt onto the mantle. As he did so, the Christmas decorations Katniss had placed there fell to the ground. Katniss dove to catch a small angel ornament before it shattered on the hard wood floor. Just then she heard a sickening thwack from the window just to the left of her head.

The bird fell to the floor, knocked senseless from slamming into the window, and Buttercup pounced. Peeta attempted in vain to snatch the animal from the feline’s grip, but he missed and stumbled while the cat disappeared through the back door they’d left open when they brought in the tree.

“I think that bird might be a casualty of our first Christmas together. I feel bad about that,” Katniss grumbled.

“Please tell me nothing else can go wrong today,” Peeta begged as he tried to regain his footing. “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh? No, no, no. No more uh ohs. What’s wrong?”

He grimaced in pain and gasped, “I think I broke my ankle.”

“Don’t. Even. Say. That.”

He stepped down on it gingerly, the same leg that he’d injured during his intramural days, and yelped in agony. “Yeah, okay. It might not be broken, but it’s hurts like hell. Maybe a bad sprain?”

“Oh my god! We have to go to the emergency room right now!” He stopped her by grabbing her hand and latching onto her for support.

“No, we don’t. Let me ice it for a while and prop it up. We can go tomorrow if we have to.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, although she wasn’t sure how honest he was being about the damage. They couldn’t really afford the cost of a hospital visit, but she didn’t want Peeta hurt either. She helped him to the couch and got him an ice pack before collapsing next to him. 

“Well, I guess we can do the Christmas cards this way.” 

The surrender in her voice made Peeta smile. “Oooooor…”

“Or what? What else can we do? The presents are done, you can’t help with the tree anymore, and I think the bird’s already dead. The only thing left to do is get the cards done before the mail comes tomorrow now. If we miss it again, there’s no point even mailing them out, and you worked so hard to make them for us.”

“Eh, we can send out e-cards this year. Who really looks at Christmas cards anyway?” His hand landed on her knee and worked slowly upward to her inner thigh. She flashed him a look of disbelief as he grinned at her. “And I can definitely think of some other things to do,” he whispered huskily as he leaned to trace his lips along the curve of her jaw.

“Peeta…”

“Hmm? What, Katniss? What could possibly be more important than this?” His hot breath created a ripple of shivers down her spine. Suddenly the day didn’t seem so bad after all.

“But your ankle,” she protested weakly. “I don’t want to hurt it any more than it already is.”

His tongue traced a path of affection down her neck, and he sucked softly on the skin covering her collarbone. “I guess you’ll just have to be on top. Sucks to be me.”

“Yeah, must be rough to be forced to enjoy your favorite sexual position,” she giggled.

“I hate it. Worst thing ever,” he grinned as he fumbled with the zipper on his jeans. “Just do me a favor, will you, Katniss?”

“What’s that?” she asked as she whipped her shirt off over her head.

“Go lock the front door and close the curtains. With our luck today, my mom will drop by unannounced and walk in on us.”

She stood and shimmied her leggings and panties down her hips and onto the floor. Ignoring his request, she climbed into his lap and kissed him instead.

“I think maybe today is the perfect time to run that risk. Besides, how much hotter is it when there’s the risk of getting caught?”

His only answer was a groan of submission as she sank onto him. By the time they were both satisfied and collapsed in each other’s arms, they’d forgotten how many things had gone wrong.

“Perfect day,” she sighed as her eyelids drooped heavily.

“The absolute best,” he agreed without hesitation. “Let’s do it again tomorrow, or maybe another round tonight.”


End file.
